Forum menu
Now I'm animalexic at the best if times, (I often have trouble telling badgers from penguins), but on way home this afternoon I saw a huge bird of prey on the side of the road - it stood about 1.5ft/2ft tall, had a white/grey chest and light brown wings and a brown head etc the beak was quite straight.
The bird was happily stood there watching the traffic, I wish I had taken a picture now :/
Any ideas what it could have been? I live on the south coast if that helps...
Was it carrying a child?
buzzard
I can confirm there were no children in its talons.
Buzzard?
Most probably a Buzzard.
[img] 
[/img]
It was bigger than a buzzard I think...
Did I just see a golden eagle?
No.
Didn't look like the one in the pic, the beak was yellow and quite straight.
South coast of England? Buzzard definitely most likely, [url= http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/families/hawks.aspx ]see here for some other possibilities[/url].
Harris Hawk?
[img] 
[/img]
Waaaay bugger than a Harris Hawk, I'm not kidding when I say it was over 1.5ft tall!
*edit* plus the Harris Hawk is much darker?
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-18352135 ]Golden Eagle Range[/url]
Unless you're posting from AD500 it probably wasn't a golden eagle
12 responses and no mention yet... Baby Robin?
taller than they look
[img] 
[/img]
Gah ! B[b]r[/b]akes ! 👿
could it have been a kite?
[img] 
[/img]
I have seen the same Golden Eagle 4 times in 12 days. seems to go down from musdale towards seil and then on to Mull.
buzzard sounds right from your description
Although it's not entirely clear, it looked a little bit like the one in the bottom left of this illustration:
[img] 
[/img]
Although it's not entirely clear, it looked a little bit like the one in the bottom left of this illustration:
Which is what? If it looked like that it definately wasn't a Golden Eagle.
[img] 
[/img]
It's highly unlikely to be a Golden Eagle. They are very scarce and tend to stay in the wilderness (in U.K) anyway.
Going to guess at female buzzard.
I think it says rough legged hawk or similar on that poster (I found slightly bigger version!)
No, you didn't. An eagle is like a flying barn door, they're properly, crap your pants, big up close. They aren't really known for sitting at the side of roads either.
Almost certainly a Buzzard, big variations in size and colouring, but 1.5 foot high and sitting watching traffic sounds about right.
Which is what? If it looked like that it definately wasn't a Golden Eagle.
Golden Eagle was said with a degree of irony, knowing full well it wasn't actually going to be one 🙄
This.An eagle is like a flying barn door, they're properly, crap your pants, big up close.
Kes?
Deffo a Buzzard, we them here, big imposing birds, but nowhere near the size of a Golden Eagle.
I've only ever seen a couple. One at the top of Glen Clova and a pair on Lochnagar. They were unmistakeable. I doubt you'd see them on the south coast by the road.
I think a Sea Eagle is even bigger, we saw a couple over the Lomonds once, they were massive.
Hmmmm... I'll settle for buzzard, but this was the biggest bloody bird I've seen outside of an Owl Sanctuary 🙂
I'm going Buzzard, they can be pretty big. I regularly see a pair sitting on a fence post watching the traffic at a busy roundabout on the M40.
Once out on the roadie one dropped out of a tree and glided along beside me for about 100m at head height before it landed on another perch. Fantastic looking thing.
Golden Eagle was said with a degree of irony, knowing full well it wasn't actually going to be one
Aye right. 😉
Not yet 🙂
It still doesn't sit right with me, it's close but not quite right
*edit* quick edit there Spin 😛
Sorry, edited after I saw your last post.
It's always a Buzzard. Especially if its near a road sitting on something.
Buzzard or Red Kite.
When you see an eagle, you'll *know* you've seen an eagle.
I saw some Golden Eagles walking on Felskinn about four years ago. Amazing birds! I've still to see one in Scotland. One day....
EDIT - The eagles weren't walking, I was! 🙂
knowing you Dan, it was one of these:
[img] 
[/img]
Millhouse: the beak is the right shape and colour, but its fins look a little odd to me 😉
Possibly, but only if its an escapee from a private collection.
However, you'd tend not to confuse a Golden Eagle with anything else - Buzzard wingspan circa 1.4m Eagle circa 2.0 and Sea Eagle 2.5m. Saw a pair of Sea Eagles up close in Loch Torridon recently and they are absolutely humungous...
Here's a Buzzard and Sea Eagle together:
I've been lucky enough to see sea eagles both on Skye and Mull, it's a sight I'll never forget.
I thought I'd spotted a heron in Tesco the other day.
Imagine my disappointment when my partner pointed out it was actually a herring.
I heard there's a pelican outside the Tescos near us
Buzzards come in a large range of colours even within the UK, from the description i'd go with buzzard
Tourist Eagle (buzzard)
Rule of thumb: If you're not [b]sure[/b] you saw an eagle then you saw a buzzard.
On honeymoon I got stuck on a rock when a bloody massive sea eagle landed on the little cliff path from the beach bar to the bungalow we were staying in. The thing was proper eyeing me up like a snack. After 5 mins or so of crapping myself the bar tender chap called it over fed it some scraps and it buggered off. It was a known regular and semi tame. Got some great photos of it the next day....
Tourist Eagle (buzzard)
Get lots of this round here (Dunoon, Argyll). I've seen a golden eagle twice around here in 10 years, the first time was riding up behind the Loch Striven refuelling base with 2 mates. It was having its dinner in the culvert at the side of the fire road, until it heard us coming.
An eagle is like a flying barn door, they're properly, crap your pants, big up close.
Oh god yes, it was like a hang glider taking off, you could feel the wash from its wing beats. We didn't say a word to each other for a few mins, although we were all keeping an eye out if it came back for us for dessert! Then a buzzard flew over, which looked like a sparrow in comparison. Then we were sure.